10pc increase in allocations for education sector.

LAHORE -- The Punjab government has proposed a 10 per cent increase in allocations for the education sector in the financial year 2022-23 -- Rs185.26 billion -- from the last year budget, according to the budget document approved by the provincial cabinet on Monday.

The government proposes Rs56.70bn for development expenditure and Rs 428.56bn for current expenses.

Out of the total budget, Rs421.06 billion are proposed for the School Education Department, Rs59.07 billion to the Higher Education Department (HED), Rs1.52 billion for special education and Rs3.59 billion for literacy and non-formal education.

Of Rs382 billion of the current budget for school education, the government sanctions Rs5.53 billion for the Zewar-i-Taleem to give scholarships to 600,000 female students, Rs3.20 billion to provide textbooks to schools, Rs14.93 billion for school councils for upgrade and ensuring better facilities in schools and Rs3.75 billion for the current expenditure of Daanish schools.

Of the Rs39 billion development budget proposed for the school education, Rs1.50 billion will be spent on developing new Daanish schools, Rs21.50 billion on the Punjab Education Foundation and Rs4.80 billion for the Punjab Education Initiative Management Authority.

The government has proposed Rs1.50 billion for the upgrade of dilapidated school buildings, Rs1 billion for the construction of additional classrooms in schools, Rs4.84 billion for the upgrade of primary and secondary schools under the afternoon schools programme, Rs2 billion for retrofitting and reconstruction of partially dangerous school buildings and Rs500 million for the construction of shelterless schools in Punjab.

...